Is this an Emergency?

[Dizzie]

I would love any advice on my axolotl's situation of probably constipation, please:
- Got axolotl just before Christmas
- had salmon pellets ordered from caudata.org member
- Was eating pellets fine and creating plenty of waste
- Went out of town and family member fed it a few pellets every other day for 5-6 days
- came back and fed it 7 pellets in one sitting and then another 5-6 the next day
- its legs started looking displaced and cloaca looks enlarged
- wasn't pooping
- cooled water to about 54 Fahrenheit by keeping a frozen water bottle or two in the tank for a couple days (normally it's around 60)
- fed bloodworms and it later threw them up
- tail began to look hooked on the end
- tubbed it in fridge
- first day, it created lots of waste in the water, replaced water
- second day, water stayed almost clean
- put him back in tank
- hungrily eats bloodworms and keeps them down
- have fed it 1/2 cube each day
- still not pooping
- legs still look funny and cloaca still looks enlarged
- Just tonight started back with frozen water bottles
- water readings have been fairly good since tank began - ammonia around 0.5, ph 7.6, nitrite 0, nitrates 5 (started tank with media from established tropical freshwater tank)
- put back in fridge? Let it keep trying to straighten things out on its own until tail starts to hook again? Try pellets again? Before I got it, it was being feed some other pellets available in pet stores. Chiclid pellets??

Thank You!!

 

[Eternie]

He is big enough now to start eating Earthworms. Generally if they stop eating then they will eat the Earthworms. So go out and buy some Night Crawlers, as these are the most nutritious thing for them. The other problem is your temperature. They need a temperature between 58 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit, and lower, they will start to go into hibernation mode, and they won't eat or poop, so that may be the reasoning since your temperatures are sitting at 54 and below.

The other thing to look at is Males will develop bulges behind their back legs when they mature, or become adults, so that may be the reasoning for that problem.

 

[Dizzie]

He is big enough now to start eating Earthworms. Generally if they stop eating then they will eat the Earthworms. So go out and buy some Night Crawlers, as these are the most nutritious thing for them. The other problem is your temperature. They need a temperature between 58 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit, and lower, they will start to go into hibernation mode, and they won't eat or poop, so that may be the reasoning since your temperatures are sitting at 54 and below.

The other thing to look at is Males will develop bulges behind their back legs when they mature, or become adults, so that may be the reasoning for that problem.

Oh, it is eating just fine. My daughter doesn't want to feed it nightcrawlers which is why I got the salmon pellets. It was raised on pellets and bloodworms by the former owner and maybe a few shrimp.

The temperature does usually stay between 58-64F.

 

[Dizzie]

I'm probably overthinking it or just paying closer attention to its behavior now, but you'll see at the 0:08, 0:18, and 0:32 marks in the video link below that it has some strange spasms shortly after eating a couple of pellets. Prior to this, it had let out an air bubble from its mouth (I think) two times if that means anything.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kFoiR_OtGbOQBeNlT3Yf-AQyxKPDly06_w/view?usp=sharing

 

[Eternie]

They do that sometimes, its quite funny to watch them, it essentially, he opened his mouth, as in sucking in food, or something, and since their mouths are like vacuums it causes them to go up a bit like that as well, especially if they are doing it close to a hard surface, such as the bare bottom tank. Since axolotls eyesight is very poor, and relies on smell, it probably still smelled some reminiscence of the pellets.

I understand not wanting to feed them Earthworms, as they are living creatures, but it is truly the best thing for them, and bloodworms and salmon pellets work for when they are juveniles, but don't always hold the full nutritional value they need especially as adults, thats why you often feed bloodworms and pellets together. But as long as he is eating fine, and seems quite healthy, i dont see an issue to keep up with the bloodworms and pellets, though you don't want the pellets from the pet stores, because they usually are not soft pellets, and aren't ones that contain the nutritional value for them, keep up with the specialized axolotl pellets that you got from the user on this site that sells them, and I wouldn't exactly suggest shrimp, as they have hard exoskeletons making it harder for the axolotl to digest them, but you can feed them every once in a while as a treat.

Good Luck, and don't hesitate to contact me with any other concerns

 

[Otterwoman]

Pellets should be fine if he'll eat them. I don't like bloodworms myself. I know axies are big but I think the roughage could be hard on a cloaca, so if it's swollen I"d try not feeding the
bloodworms and see if things improve.